George Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C. in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992.

Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix Du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collectionsUnusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men From Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire magazine called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."

Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever (Susan Skoog, 1998) andBlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.

Every man has his dark side...Spero Lucas confronts his own in the most explosive thriller yet from one of America's best-loved crime writers.

The job seems simple enough: retrieve the valuable painting--"The Double"--Grace Kinkaid's ex-boyfriend stole from her. It's the sort of thing Spero Lucas specializes in: finding what's missing, and doing it quietly. But Grace wants more. She wants Lucas to find the man who humiliated her--a violent career criminal with a small gang of brutal thugs at his beck and call.

Lucas is a man who knows how to get what he wants, whether it's a thief on the run--or a married woman. In the midst of a steamy, passionate love affair that he knows can't last, in pursuit of a dangerous man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, Lucas is forced to decide what kind of man he is--and how far he'll go to get what he wants. About the Author

George Pelecanos is the author of several highly praised and bestselling novels, including The cut, What It Was, The way home, The turnaround, and The night gardener. He is also an independent-film producer, an essayist, and the recipient of numerous international writing awards. He was a producer and Emmy-nominated writer for The Wire and currently writes for the acclaimed HBO series Treme. He lives in Maryland.

Please join us when bestselling author George Pelecanos returns to Octavia Books to give a reading from and sign copies of his new novel, The Double. Every man has his dark side...Spero Lucas confronts his own in the most explosive thriller yet from one of America's best-loved crime writers.

This new Spiro Lucas novel reads like a classic noir thriller, full of action and suspense.

The job seems simple enough: retrieve the valuable painting--"The Double"--Grace Kinkaid's ex-boyfriend stole from her. It's the sort of thing Spero Lucas specializes in: finding what's missing, and doing it quietly. But Grace wants more. She wants Lucas to find the man who humiliated her--a violent career criminal with a small gang of brutal thugs at his beck and call.

Lucas is a man who knows how to get what he wants, whether it's a thief on the run--or a married woman. In the midst of a steamy, passionate love affair that he knows can't last, in pursuit of a dangerous man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, Lucas is forced to decide what kind of man he is--and how far he'll go to get what he wants.

George Pelecanos is the author of several highly praised and bestselling novels, including The Cut, What It Was, The Way Home, The Turnaround, and The Night Gardener. He is also an independent-film producer, an essayist, and the recipient of numerous international writing awards. He was a producer and Emmy-nominated writer for The Wire and is an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood welcomes author George Pelecanos to the store to discuss and sign his new book, The Double, on Monday, October 21st at 7pm.

Spero Lucas specializes in finding what's missing, and finding it quietly. So when Grace Kincaid hires him to find a valuable, stolen painting -- known as "The Double" -- the job seems simple enough. But Grace doesn't just want the painting back. She wants him to hunt down the man who humiliated her: her ex-boyfriend, a violent career criminal with a gang of thugs at his beck and call. Lucas is a man who knows how to get what he wants, be it a married woman or a thief on the run. But caught in a love affair he knows can't last, pursuing a dangerous criminal who will stop at nothing, even he will be forced to find out just how far into his own dark side he's willing to go.

George Pelecanos is the author of several highly praised and bestselling novels, including The Cut, What It Was, The Way Home, The Turnaround, and The Night Gardener. He is also an independent-film producer, an essayist, and the recipient of numerous international writing awards. He was a producer and Emmy-nominated writer for The Wire and currently writes for the acclaimed HBO series Treme.

GEORGE PELECANOS The Double In his explosive new thriller, Pelecanos returns with special investigator Spero Lucas, who is asked by a woman to retrieve a painting stolen by her ex-boyfriend and track down a violent criminal who humiliated her. Pelecanos will be interviewed by Chicago writer Bryan Gruley, author of the Starvation Lake mysteries.

Description: For readers who like to listen to books, this group meets on the third Wednesday of each month, from 11-12:30, and frequently lunch together afterwards at a nearby restaurant. The Cut, by George Pelecanos, is avaialable as a book on CD from MCPL and as a downloadable Talking Books DB 73999.

Come hear award-winning crime novelist George Pelecanos read and discuss his new novel The Way Home. The Friends of the Library, White Oak Chapter will have Mr. Pelecanos' books for sale and signing. Call 240-773-9555 for more information. (andyg227)

The Way Home is the most powerful novel yet from the electrifying George Pelecanos, whose work has been compared to that of Dennis Lehane and Richard Price, writers "who push the boundaries of crime writing into literary territory" (New York Times). As profound and engrossing as Pelecanos's work as writer and producer on The Wire, The Way Home is an unforgettable novel of fathers' hopes and sons' ambitions, of love, drive, and forgiveness. (karenharris)… (more)

From the store site: Hey mystery fans – it doesn’t get any better than this! Join two blockbuster authors celebrating two new novels in one night of thrills. Meet Michael Connelly (The Lincoln Lawyer, Void Moon) and George Pelecanos (The Turnaround) at Brookline’s favorite art-deco theatre. Tickets are going fast! (sweeks1980)… (more)